Contents

History

Nulukkizdîn was delved by Dwarves before the Elves were exiled from Valinor. Over the years, its population waned, and others were hunted to near-extinction by the Elves, who were unfamiliar with the Petty-dwarves. Nulukkizdîn was eventaly abandoned, and repopulated by Elves. Finrod Felagund founded Nargothrond in its stead. After Nargothrind fell to Glaurung, the last Petty-dwarf, Mîm, reclaimed it, but he was slain by Húrin.[1]

Etymology

Tolkien provided no translations of either Nulukkizdîn or Nulukkhizdīn. The last element is usually believed to be the Khuzdul root for "Dwarf", Kh-Z-D.[2] Whether this is a true Khuzdul word of a Petty-dwarvish dialect is unknown, but circumstantial evidence points to the latter option. The Angerthas Daeron and its specific Dwarven variation Angerthas Moria, do not have a symbol for the letter Î.[3] Other than in Nulukkizdîn, it only appears in Khîm and Mîm,[2] the names of two Petty-dwarves.

Other versions of the Legendarium

In The Silmarillion, the name is spelled Nulukkizdîn; however, Christopher Tolkien has noted that in the original manuscript, his father used the spelling Nulukkhizdīn. It replaced an earlier spelling Nulukkhizidûn.[4]

Tolkien's later notes on the origin of Nargothrond give a different Dwarvish name, Nar(u)kuthûn, derived from a Dwarvish name of the Narog, *Naruka. Tolkien includes the words "of Petty-dwarves" between parentheses behind the mention of its Dwarvish origin.[5] Whether Tolkien ever intended to replace Nulukkhizdīn with Nar(u)kuthûn is unknown.